Johann Nepomuk Fuchs - Komponist und Kapellmeister

Johann Nepomuk Fuchs (5 May 1842 – 15 October 1899) was an Austrian composer, opera

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...

, teacher and editor. His editorial work included an important role in the preparation of the first complete edition of Schubert's works. He was an older brother of the composer Robert Fuchs.

Life and works

Johann Nepomuk Fuchs was born on 5 May 1842 at Frauental in

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

in the south of Austria. His youngest brother was the composer and music teacher Robert Fuchs. Johann studied musical theory in Vienna with the prominent theorist and composer Simon Sechter, with whom

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

had planned to study. In 1864, he was appointed

Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

of the

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Opera. He also conducted opera outside Bratislava, in Brno,

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2 ...

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Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

, and

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, before moving to the Vienna Court Opera in 1880. In 1888, Fuchs joined the faculty of the

Vienna Conservatory Vienna Conservatory may refer to: *University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university ...

, where the composer Alexander von Zemlinsky was one of his students of composition. Other notable students included composers Edmund Eysler, Leo Fall and Rubin Goldmark, and the theorist and composer

Heinrich Schenker Heinrich Schenker (19 June 1868 – 14 January 1935) was a Galician-born Austrian music theorist whose writings have had a profound influence on subsequent musical analysis. His approach, now termed Schenkerian analysis, was most fully ex ...

. In 1893, Fuchs succeeded Joseph Hellmesberger, Sr. as director of the conservatory. Further recognition followed in 1894, when he was appointed Vice

Hofkapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

for his services at the Vienna Court Opera. Fuchs composed operatic and incidental music for the theatre, as well as

lieder In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French ...

and piano pieces. His one opera, ''Zingara'', was first staged in Brno in 1872. As an editor, Fuchs worked on editions of operas, including Gluck's '' Le cadi dupé'', Handel's '' Almira'' and Schubert's ''

Alfonso und Estrella ' (''Alfonso and Estrella''), 732, is an opera with music by Franz Schubert, set to a German libretto by Franz von Schober, written in 1822. Along with the later '' Fierrabras'', composed in 1823, it marks Schubert's attempt to compose grand ...

''. He helped prepare the first edition of the entire Schubert canon, the ''Schubert-Gesamtausgabe'' published by

Breitkopf & Härtel Breitkopf & Härtel is the world's oldest music publishing house. The firm was founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf. The catalogue currently contains over 1,000 composers, 8,000 works and 15,000 music editions or books ...

, editing the works for the theatre, as well as some of the orchestral scores. He died at Bad Vöslau in

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt ...

on 15 October 1899.

References

External links

* (including some of his editions of works by Schubert and Gluck)
Works catalogued
by the

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...

(in German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuchs, Johann Nepomuk 1842 births 1899 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century conductors (music) 19th-century Austrian musicians 19th-century Austrian male musicians Austrian Romantic composers Austrian opera composers Austrian male classical composers Austrian conductors (music) Austrian music educators Austrian musicologists Male opera composers Male conductors (music) Pupils of Simon Sechter Schubert scholars 19th-century musicologists